Savušun

Alone onstage, Sorour Darabi exhibits a body in transition, masculine and feminine knit together. Drawing on his Iranian roots, he/she fashions an intimate tale of the suffering and fear endured by marginalized bodies. Transported by Shiite funeral rites and mourning ceremonies, the artist combines the vulgar and the sacred in a dazzling performance, as shameless as it is subversive.

An improbable body, riven by twisted movements, violence and convulsions, opens up to probe the depths of remembrance, memories of war, of martyrdom. Ecstasy and suffering intersect between cruelty and gentleness. By means of a Farsi chant, a letter addressed to his father and erotically changed scenes, Darabi seduces, perverts, pushing the limits of the body. He/she turns his/her face and body into a moving, ambiguous landscape of infinite possibility. Savušun perturbs, bewitches.

Produced by Sorour Darabi
Executive Producer Météores
Concieved, choreographed and performed by Sorour Darabi
Lighting Design Yannick Fouassier + Jean-Marc Ségalen
Dramaturgy Pauline Le Boulba
Outside Eye Mathieu Bouvier + Céline Cartillier
Sound Design Clément Bernerd
Administration Charlotte Giteau
Touring Sandrine Barrasso 

Coproduction Montpellier Danse 2018 creative residency at Agora, cité internationale de la danse with the support of Fondation BNP Paribas + CND Centre national de la danse + La Villette Résidences d’artistes (Paris) + La Maison CDCN – Uzès Gard Occitanie with the support of ICI – Centre chorégraphique national Montpellier – Occitanie + Sophiensaele (Berlin) + Fonds Transfabrik– Fonds franco-allemand pour le spectacle vivant + La fée Nadou (L’Affenadou) 

Presented with the support of Institut Français (Paris) + Service de coopération et d’action culturelle du Consulat général de France à Québec in association with Théâtre Prospero

Written by Elsa Pépin
Translated by Neil Kroetsch

Premiered at Montpellier Danse, on June 23, 2018